Heel-breasting machine



D. W. BUNKER.

HEEL BREASTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.26, 1918.

1 A26, 35%, Patented Aug. 22, 1922?.

DARIUS W. BUNKER, QF BROOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR-TO UNITED MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

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Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Aug 22,

Application filed December 26, 1918. Serial No. 268,289.

T 0 all to ham it may concern:

Be it known that I, DARIUS WV. BUNKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Brookline, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in l-leel-Breasting Machines, of-which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings,

is a specification, like reference characters" cutter and a shoe support or rest which engages the tread face of the heel and preferably the bottom of the forepart of the shoe, against which rest the shoe is held in the hands of the operator. The shoe rest and cutter are then moved relatively to cause the cutter to trim the breast of the heel from side to side of the heel. To position the shoe longitudinally a rib is provided on the part of the support which engages the tread face .of the heel against which the breast edge of the top lift of the shoe is held by the operator, the rib preventing movement of the shoe toward the cutter. The rib is necessarily very low in order to expose as much as possible of the breast face of .the heel to the action of the cutter.

In the use of machines of this type, it sometimes happens that the cutter, when it engages the shoe, causes dislodgment of the shoe heel from the positioning rib and draws the shoe and the hand of the operator, which must grasp the rear part of the shoe to hold the shoe against the rib, into the cutter, causing the shoe to be injured or spoiled and sometimes the hand of the operator to be badly lacerated.

Objects of this invention are to provide a machine which, ,while retaining the many highly desirable and valuable features of machines of the aforesaid type, will insure ade quate protection to the operator from injury by the cutter, and to provide improved means for locating and holding the shoe during the operation of the cutter. V

A'feature of the invention consists in a novel organization including a rotary cutter and a shoe rest against which the shoe is held by the operator during relative move ment of theshoe and cutter to Ieflect the cutting action of the cutter uponthe shoe with. means held from movement relatively to the. shoe rest constructed'and arranged to prevent movement of the operators hand to ward the cutter. The said means is preferably constructed and arrtnged to embracethe heel of the shoeand to be opened and closed by meansunder controlof the operator, for example, as shown, as an incident to the operation of means, suchasatreadle: which is provided for effecting relative movement of the cutter and the shoe to cause' the cutter to act upon the shoe. While it is by the embracing means but only thatmeans shall be provided between the cutter and the'operators hand to prevent movement of not essential that the heelshall be engaged the hand'and shoe into the cutter, it is preferable that the embracing'ineans be constituted, as means to hold the shoe, Theheel embracing means, in the construction shown," compr ses. a pair of aws whlch 1s-closed, upon the heel, one orboth of the aws being arranged for closingmovement upon the heel as an incident to the operation of of fecting relative movement between thecutter and the heel tread support. As shown, herein, the heel tread support is movable to carry the shoe past the cutter, and theiforce required for this movement is utilized to press the jaws upon the'heel. Only one of the jaws need be movable relatively to the. heel and in the construction shown the up per jaw is so movable, theshoe being rested against the lower jaw and jaw operated to hold the heel. By this. arrangement the lower jaw has a constant limit of movement irrespectively of the width of the heel being treated and that limit issuch that the lower edge of'the heel will be carried to a point opposite the axis of the I cutter and no farther. This prevents any, operation of the cutterupon theheel during its return movement, such second operation being undesirable.

the upper It is a usualpracticeto scallop the heels The scalloping operation gives a pointed formation to the breast corners of in this connection refers'too the heel in the portion adjacent to the tread a face. a 110 i 1 the top lift and in the breasting operation.

the cutters should act up to these corners without cutting anything off of them. This is impossible in machines of the prior construction since the rib on the tread plate prevents the cutter from acting up to the corners of the top lift.

A further feature of the present invention consists in gagingmechanisin for the heel breast which permits operation of the cutter up to the corners of the top lift. This mechanism, as shown, comprises a which engages only the central portion of: the breast and hence may lie in the scalloo of the top lift out of the 'way of the cutter. The space in the scallop is ample to accommodate a gage of substantial proportions and to afford a good'support for the heel and give it a positive longitudinal location relatively to the cutter.

Another feature of the invention consists in means for locating the gage centrally of the breast irrespectively of the width of the heel. By this construction the is al ways located in the deepest part of the scallop and causes heels of diifcrent widths to be held in the same longitudinal position relatively to the cutter. The position of the is preferably controlled by the position of the aws which embrace the heel and,

in the construction shown, operative connections are provided between the movable jaw and the gage which maintain the centrally between the jaws irresgectively of the space between the jaws and hence irrespectively of the width of the heel held by the jaws.

These and other features of the invention will appear more fully from the following detailed description when read in cc. union with the accompanying drawing and will he pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,-

Fig. l is a perspective view of the head of the machine, part of the column on which it is mounted being omitted;

F 2 is a perspective view of the mecha nism shown in Fig. 1 taken from the rear side;

Fig. 3 is an elevational shown in Fig. 2; and i Fig. i is a perspective view of a shoe in the shoe positioning means shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, the numeral 2 indicates the column of the machine upon the upper portion of which is a head 4 having bearings 6, 8 for a cutter shaft 10 driven from a pulley 12. On one end of the shaft 10 is a cutter head 14 having two fly cutters 16, the cutting portions of which are shaped to give the proper contour to the breast portion of a Louis h el. The work support coinprises a post 1.8 splined for vertical movement in a sleeve formed on a member 22 which has a dovetailed portion arranged to detail of parts slide horizontally in a projection 24:. The projection 2a is part of a bracket 26 which is secured by screws 28 to the head 4-. The screws pass through slots 30in the bracket 26. and by reason of this connection the bracket 26 may be adjusted heightwise of the heel in a direction at right angles to the direction of movement of the slide 22 in the projection 2-1- and also transversely of the cutter shaft. By this adjustment the action of the cutter relatively to the shank portion of the heel may be controlled. To provide a. fine adjustment of the support in this direction a screw 25 is provided .which is threaded through the bracket 26 and the machine frame. i'tdjustment of the slide 22 lengthwise of the cutter shaft 10 to control the depth of cut lengthwise of theheel is effected by means of a screw 32 mounted for rotation in a plate 34. attached to the projection 24 and threaded into the slide 22. To hold the slide securely in adjusted position ahand nut 36 is provided which is threaded upon a screw stud 3? secured to the projection and passing through a slot 38 in the slide (in the upper end of thepost 18 is secreted a head 40 which carries the shoe positioning and holding mechanism. The head lOhas an arm d2 provided with a split clamp 44 which receives the stem d6 of a forepart rest 48. Another arm of the head h) extends upwardly and is formed with a surface 52 aving a raised. ledge 53 to engage the side of a heel attached to a shoe near its tread 100 face. The tread face of the heel engages tread 55 carriec by t: e arm 50. Extend ing downwardly toward the toe of the shoe from the-surface 52 is flange against which the finger of the operators 105 hand may-rest. Above the surface 52 is a member 56 having a surface complcmentary to the surface 52, a ledge 57 corresponding to the ledge and a. fl 58 sin 'lar to the flange 54-. The i' movement vertically toward and from the surface 52 as follows: On the arm 50 is a vertically upstanding portion 60 (Figs. and 3) and on the member 56 is part 62 extending downwardly between the. portion 115 60 and a part, 64: formed to provide a vertical guide for the 62. A lever 66 is fulcrumed at 68 to the upstanding portion 60 and has a slightly elongated hole at one end which engages a pin 7G- fiXed in the part 120 62 and extending through a slot 72 in the part 64-. The lever 66 is operated by connecting rod 7 L extending to a treadle 76 mounted in a convenient position of the floor. Operation of the treadle causes the: member 56 125 having the ledge 5*! which constitutes a movable jaw to move toward and from the ledge 58 on the surface 52 which constitutes a fixed jaw, and when the aws have clamped a heel beti ee A them further upward pressure on 130 nged for the rod 7 4: by the treadle 7 6 causes the post 18 to slide upwardly in its sleeve 20 carrying with it, of course, the jaws, shoe positioning means 18 and shoe, thussubjecting the heel of the shoe to the action of the cutter blades 16. c

The jaws 52, 56 are formed as shown tosurro-und the entire heel except its breast portion but permit the operator to retain hold on the rear portion of the shoe. The flanges 54, 58 prevent any possible approach of the o-perators finger toward the cutter.

As a whole the device absolutely protects the operators hand from possible contact with the cutter and effectively locates and holds the shoe heel during the breasting operation.

To position the shoe heel longitudinally for the action of the cutter, it is desirable to provide a gage or stop for the breast edge of the top lift. In the construction shown, such a gage is provided by a projection formed on the inner edge of the part 64: and extending across the inner edge of the part 60, as best shown in Fig. 4. The projection 80 is preferably provided with notch engaging and adapted to slide along the edge of the part 60, which is reduced. in thickness by a rabbet 82. The projection 80 extends sufiiciently above the tread rest 55 which is engaged by the tread'face of the top lift of the heel toprovide a stop or gage for the breast edge of the top lift. In case the heel is formed with a concavity or scallop in the portion of the breast prior to the breasting operation, which is a common practice, the projection will be located in the scallop and may be of substantial dimensions to afford a secure support for the heel. The gage 80 in this caseshould alwaysbe positioned centrally of the scallop of the heel irrespectively of the width of the heel, so that heels of different widths will be positioned unifornny with respect to the cutter. Hence in the construction shown means is provided for locating the gage 80 centrally of the heel breast, whatever its width. may be. To effect this, the part 6-1, including the projection 80, is arranged for vertical sliding movement, which movement is effected from the lever 66 by means of a. pin 84L fixed in the part 64 and extending through a slightly elongated hole 86 in the lever 66. The pin 84; is located midway between the pivot 68 of the lever' and the pin 70, which communicates I11OV8-- ment to the jaw 56, and hence the movement of the projection 80 will always be half as great as that of the jaw 56, and the proj ec tion 80 will be located in the center of the heel breast of a heel held betwcenthe jaws 52, 56. The projection or gage 80 is designed to be completely contained in the scallop of the heel, and hence the heel is so exposed to the action of the cutter that it may out completely to the corners of the top lift. In

work support.

carries a sliding sleeve v90 having a flange 92. Between the flange 92 and a thumb nut 93 threaded on the lower end'of the post 18 is a spring 9 1. When the work support has been raised and the knife is about to complete its cut, the sleeve 91 engages the sleeve 20, making it necessary to compress spring 9 1 in order to effect further movement of the work. The operator, therefore, is obliged to. finish the cut at a slower rate, with the result that a clean edge is formed on the lower edge of the breast. A construction similar to this is disclosed and claimed in an application for United States Letters Patent Serial No. 107,430, filed July 3, 1216, by Daniel E. Quinlan.

Preferably the movement of the support is limited at a point such that the face of the ledge 53 which engages the lower side of the heel will be at the same height as the center of the shaft 10. This prevents any action of the cutter upon the heel during the return movement of the shoe. To'elfect this a pin 96 is provided in the post 18 which lies in a slot formed in the sleeve 90, and when the sleeve 90 is depressed engages the sleeve 20 to limit movement of the post.

The machine is provided with a cutterv guard 100 which is lifted as the shoe is raised by a link 102'connecting the guardto the The link 102 at its lower end is provided with a slot 104 through which passes a screw 105 which is threaded into a block 107 pivoted to a projection 106 from the head 10. By this construction the relation of the guard 100 to the work support may be varied.

In the operation of the machine, the operator grasps a shoe by its toe and about the rear part andplaces the forepart of the sole against the rest 18' and the heel between the lower side of the heel resting on 'the'ledge 53. The jaw 56 is then moved, by tipping of the treadle 76, toward the jaw 52 and at the same'time the shoe is pushed forwardly against the rest 80 which is automatically located atthe center of the heel, as the jaw 56 reaches the heel, and lies in the scallop of the breast. operated to raise the shoe together with its holding and positioning mechanism, the raising force being transmitted from jaw to jaw through the heel and causing the shoe to be firmly held between the jaws dur-' The treadle is now further" ledges 58, 57 on the jaws 52, 56 with the ing the passage of the heel across the cutter, the closing beingeii'ected as an incident to the act of raising the shoe support. The cutter acts upon the heel, of course, from side to side of the heel and finishes its out on the lower edge of the heel breast. When the shoe has reached a position such that the cut is about to be finished, the flange 92 engages the sleeve 20, causing the spring Set to be compressed, the action of the spring being to slow down the movement 01 the shoe as the cut is finished and to cause a clean cut tobe made on the lower edge of the heel breast.

/Vhen the shoe reaches a position such that the surface of the ledge 53, on which the lower side of the heel rests, is in a horizontal plane passing through the axis of the cutter, the pin 96 in the post 18 engages the sleeve 20 and arrests further movement of the shoe. This prevents movement of: the heel past the axis of the cutter and prevents any action of the cutter upon the heel during the return movement of the shoe which is now alllowed to talre place by releasingthe upward pressure on the readle rod 74.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a rotary cutter, a shoe rest against which a shoe is he d by the hand of the operator, means for relatively moving the cutter and the rest to cause operation of the cutter upon the breast of the heel of the shoe, and means arranged above the shoe between the operators hand and the cutter and held from vertical movement relatively to the shoe and rest to prevent movement of the hand of the operator toward the cutter in case the shoe should be drawn toward the cutter.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a rotary cutter, a shoe rest against which a shoe is held by the hand of the operator, means for relatively moving the cutter and the rest to cause opera tion of the cutter upon the breast of the heel of the shoe, and means mountedon the rest and extending above and below the s ice in close relation thereto to protect the op erators hand which holds the rear end of the shoe from movement toward the cutter in case the shoe should slip on the rest.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a rotary cutter, a shoe rest against which a shoe is held by the hand of the operator, means for relatively moving the cutter and the rest to cause opera tion of the cutter upon the breast of the heel of the shoe, and means for embracing the heel and preventing movement of the hand of the operator toward the cutter in case the shoe becomes displaced upon the rest.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a power operated cutter, a rest adapted to receive the tread face eta shoe heel presented thereto in the hand or. the operator, means for relatively moving the rest and the cutter to effect operation of the cutter upon the breast of the heel of the shoe, and means surrounding; the heel and located between the operators hand and the rest to prevent the hand from being; drawn into the cutter in case the heel should slip on the rest.

5. In a machine of the class described, the

combination of a rotary cutter, a rest for the tread face of the heel, means for relatively moving the cutter and rest to cause operation of the cutter upon the breast of the heel oi a shoe, means for embracii heel of the shoe constructed and arranged to hold the heel during the operation of the cutter, and means operated as an incident to the relative movement of the rest and cutter to force the embracing means against the heel.

6. In a machine of the class described, the combination. of a rotary cutter, a rest for the treat. face of the heel, means for rehn tively moving the cutter and rest to cause operation of thecutter upon. the breast oi? the heel of a shoe, and means operated by said moving means for holding; the shoe upon the rest.

7. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a rotary cutter, a rest for the tread face of the heel, means for relatively moving; the cutter and rest to cause operation of the cutter upon the breast of the heel or a shoe, a pair of jaws for engagthe heel of the shoe, and means operated aid moving means for causing the jaws to hold the heel.

8. In machine oi the class c cscribed, the combination of a rotary cutter, a rest for the tread face of the heel, manually operated means for moving the shoe past the cutter to cause the cutter to breast the heel, holdleans arranged to close against the sides the heel, and means operated by said manually operated means for closing the holding means.

9. In a machine of the class described, the con'ibination of a rotary cutter, a rest for the tread face of the heel, holding means arranged to close against the sides of the heel to hold the heel upon the rest, and. manual means operating to close the holding means and then to move re vcively the shoe and cutter to cause o ieration. of the cutter upon the heel breast.

10. In machine of the cla s described, the combination of a rotary cutter, a rest for the tread face of the heel movable past the cutter, holding means arranged to close against the sides of the heel to hold the heel upon the rest, and means operating first to close the holding means and then to move the rest and holding means past the cutter to cause the cutter to act upon the heel breast.

11. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a cutter, a rest for the tread face of the heel, shoe holding jaws on the rest, means for moving relatively the cutter and rest to cause the cutter to operate on the breast of the heel of the shoe, and means operated as an incident to said relative movement for causing the jaws to hold the heel.

12. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a cutter, a restfor the tread face of the heel, shoe holding jaws on the rest, means for moving the rest past the cutter to cause operation of the cutter upon the breast of the heel of the shoe, and means for causing the force required to move the rest to be effective to cause the jaws to hold the shoe.

13. In a machine of the class described, the combination of breasting means, a plate to engage the tread face of a heel attached to a shoe to be acted upon by said breasting means, and means mounted on. the plate to engage the breast face of the heel engaged by the plate and to locate the heel longitudinally, said means being constructed and arranged to engage only the central portion of the breast edge.

14:. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a rotary cutter, a shoe rest against which the tread face of a shoe heel is held by the operator, ieans for relatively moving the cutter and rest to cause operation of the cutter on the breast of the heel, means on the rest to engage the central portion only of the breast edge of the top lift, and means for maintaining said means in central relation to said edge irrespectively of the width of the heels being operated upon.

15. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a rest for the tread face of a heel, a gage on the rest to engage the centre of the breast edge of the top lift of the heel, jaws constructed and arranged to be closed upon the sides of the heel, and connections bet-ween the gage andsaid jaws to locate the gage centrally of the heel held by the jaws irrespectively of the width of the heel.

16. In a machine of the class described, the combination of breasting means, a plate to receive the tread face of the heel of a shoe, means adjacent to the plate to engage only the central portion of the breast edge of the heel to locate the heel longitudinally of the shoe, heel embracing members one of which is movable to hold the heel, and means controlled by said movable member to maintain said breast engaging meanscentrally of the breast irrespectively of the width of the heel embraced by said members.

17. In a machine for breast-ing a Louis heel attached to a shoe and having a scallop A in its breast adjacent to the top lift, a rotary cutter, a work support between which and the cutter there is relative movement to cause the heel to be breasted from side to side of the heel, and a gage constructed and arranged to lie in the scallop of the heel breast out of the way of the cutter to locate" the heel relatively to the cutter and to allow action of the cutter upon the heel breast up to the outer corners of the scalloped po r tion.

18. In a machine of the class described,

the combination of a rotary cutter, a. shoe rest against which a shoe is held by the hand of the operator, means for locating the heel vertically relatively to said rest, means for relatively moving the cutter and the rest to cause operation of the cutter upon the breast of the heel of the shoe in a direction from side to side of the heel, and means for arresting said relative movement when the axis of the cutter and the side of the "heel on .which the cutting action is finished are in the same plane.

19. In a machine of the class described,-

the combination of a rotary cutter, a shoe rest against which a shoe is held by the hand of the operator, means for relatively moving the cutter and the rest to cause operation of the cutter upon the breast of the heel of the shoe in a direction from side to side of the heel, means for arresting said relative movement when the axis of the cutter and the side 7 of the heel on which the cutting action is finished are in the same plane, and means for retarding said, relative movement of the shoe and cutter as the cut approaches completion.

20. In a machine of the class described,

the combination of a rotary cutter, a shoe support, a guide in which the shoe support is movable vertically past the cutter for the action of the cutter upon the breast of a shoe heel, means arranged for fine adjustment to vary the relative location of the cutter and the guide ina horizontal direction longitudinally of the cutter axis to control the depth of thecut effected by the cutter lengthwise of the heel, and a fine adjustment to limit relative approaching movement of the cutter and guide heightwise of the heel andto control actionof the cutter on the shank portion of the heel breast.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

DARIUS W. BUNKER. 

